Sunday, February 13, 2011

Charles Bukowski...for Valentine's Day

Nobody's poetry say Valentine's Day better than...Charles Bukowski's? I've been reading and admiring both his poetry and prose for more than thirty years. He explains the contemporary world just about as well as anybody I've read. But as a messenger for Valentine's Day? The following is from Jacket Copy in The Los Angeles Times.

Slake does Bukowski for (almost) Valentine's

The people at Slake magazine have teamed up with the Huntington Library to offer a special tour of the Bukowski exhibiton at 3 p.m. Feb. 13, followed by a private reception. That evening, Slake presents a love-and-Bukowski-themed reading at nearby Vroman's in Pasadena.

Those who pay $60 for the Slake tour will get admission to the Huntington Library, Gallery and Gardens and a guided tour of the Bukowski exhibit by its curator, Sue Hodson, who is the Huntington's curator of literary manuscripts. Tickets for the Slake tour are limited; the Bukowski exhibit's final day will be Feb. 14.

After the tour, attendees will be given a photographic print of Bukowski's manual typewriter, signed by photographer Anne Fishbein, and hustled off to the new Euro Pane Bakery for a private reception.

All that will be followed by a public reading at Vroman's to celebrate Slake's second issue. Called "Love and Bukowski," it focuses on the poet, who is the focus of pieces by Laurie Ochoa and Geoff Nicholson in the new Slake, and on love. But it promises to be anything but sentimental -- while he often wrote of love, Bukowski wrote poems such as "Prayer for Broken-Handed Lovers," "Love Is A Piece Of Paper Torn To Bits," "Inverted Love Song" and the poetry collection "Love is a Dog From Hell."

1 comment:

Anonymous
said...

I had to laugh when I thought about Bukowski at the Huntington Library, or even visiting Pasadena for that matter. I know he's laughing like hell too. A photo of his typewriter? How about one of his wine stained underwear? Terry Butler